An in-depth case study of the use of DxOMark data

The Nikon D5000 and the Canon EOS 500D were two main releases for spring 2009. Launched at the same time, and targeting the same market, these two cameras were the perfect subjects to use for an extensive demonstration of the DxOMark Database.

There is a 10-point difference between the two cameras’ Sensor Overall Scores. What does it mean? As explained in DxOMark Sensor: The essentials, such a difference corresponds to a sensitivity gap of 2/3 of a stop. But several questions remain open:

Why is there such a difference when these two sensors have nearly the same level of noise after normalization?

Is there a difference of 2/3 of a stop along the whole ISO range?

How is the comparison of the three Sensor Metrics used to obtain the Sensor Overall Scores?

Even though the answers to these questions are available on the DxOMark website, we think it useful to provide our readers with a typical case study by showing how we compared the two camera sensors and arrived at the 10-point difference.

Further readings for the An in-depth case study of the use of DxOMark data

To provide photographers with a broader perspective about mobiles, lenses and cameras, here are links to articles, reviews, and analyses of photographic equipment produced by DxOMark, renown websites, magazines or blogs.

Nikon and Canon launched their new top-of-the-line cameras for news and sports photography at the end of 2009. The Nikon D3s replaced the NikonD3, and the Canon EOS 1D Mark IV replaces the Canon EOS 1D Mark III.On the one hand, the Nikon D3s’s sensor specifications remain very close to those of the Nikon D3; on the other hand, Canon replaced the Mark III’s 10 Mpix sensor with a new 15.9 Mpix sensor with the same sensor surface.